Hot-formed magnets of rare earth-iron-boron alloys are predisposed to mechanical failures such as cracks and fractures which occur during cooling or handling. Such failures reduce production capacity and increase waste material. The tendency to crack is in part intrinsic to the mechanical properties of the 2-14-1 phase present in the magnet, for example, as in Nd.sub.2 TM.sub.14 B.sub.1 magnets. As a magnet starts to cool from a hot-worked condition, the magnet contracts at a rate determined by its single alloy composition. Each single alloy composition exhibits an abrupt change in the rate of thermal expansion or specific heat with temperatures at or near its Curie temperature. Such an abrupt change causes stresses which persist after the hot-formed magnet cools to room temperature.